2009 State of the State Addresses Education-Related Proposals by Issue

The following summary includes education-related proposals from the 2009 state of the state addresses. To assure that this information reaches you in a timely manner, minimal attention has been paid to style (capitalization, punctuation) or format. To view the documents, click on the blue triangle next to the state. Accountability 9 Accountability--Rewards 1 Accountability--Sanctions/Interventions 1 Accountability--School Improvement 1 Assessment 4 Assessment--College Entrance Exams 1 At-Risk (incl. Dropout Prevention) 8 At-Risk (incl. Dropout Prevention)--Alternative Education 1 Bilingual/ESL 2 Business Involvement 19 Career/Technical Education 10 Choice of Schools 2 Choice of Schools--Charter Schools 5 Civic Education--Character Education 1 Class Size 2 Curriculum 5 Curriculum--Arts Education 1 Curriculum--Foreign Language/Sign Language 1 Curriculum--Language Arts 1 Curriculum--Language Arts--Writing/Spelling 2 Curriculum--Mathematics 13 Curriculum--Science 11 Demographics--Enrollments 1 Economic/Workforce Development 45 Education Research 1 Equity 1 Federal 15 Finance 48 Finance--Adequacy/Core Cost 2 Finance--Bonds 2 Finance--District 3 Finance--Facilities 12 Finance--Federal 14 Finance--Funding Formulas 12 Finance--Local Foundations/Funds 1 Finance--Lotteries 5 Finance--Performance Funding 2 Finance--Resource Efficiency 12 Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures 45 Finance--Taxes/Revenues 20 Governance 10 Governance--School Boards 4 Governance--State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies 28 Health 10 Health--Mental Health 1 Health--Nutrition 4 High School 13 High School--Dropout Rates/Graduation Rates 9 High School--Dual/Concurrent Enrollment 1 High School--Early Colleges/Middle Colleges 1 High School--Exit Exams 1 High School--Graduation Requirements 2 International Benchmarking 1 Leadership 8 Mentoring/Tutoring 2 Middle School 1 Minority/Diversity Issues 2 Online Learning--Virtual Schools/Courses 4 Alabama Governor Bob Riley's State of the State Address Distance Learning/Virtual University, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Mathematics, Reading/Literacy, Science -- Protect funding for the education programs that we know work: the Reading Initiative, the Math and Science Initiative, and distance learning. Economic/Workforce Development, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Finance--Taxes/Revenues -- Pass the Alabama Economic Recovery Plan, which includes a Back-to-Work Tax Credit of $500 to encourage companies to hire unemployed workers and a Targeted Job Creation Tax Credit (a $1,500 incentive over three years for each new job created in counties with the highest unemployment levels). -- Make more industries eligible for our economic incentives--knowledge-based industries, such as research and development facilities, corporate headquarters and other entrepreneurial ventures. Finance, Finance--Lotteries -- Disagree with those who say that if gambling was expanded and taxed, education funding would not have to be reduced. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies -- Balance the budget. -- Will not raise taxes. Alabama is weathering this storm better than most. -- Froze new government hires, employee pay raises and new vehicle purchases. -- Directed state department heads to find even deeper savings. -- Overhaul the state ethics code. http://www.governorpress.state.al.us/pr/sp-2009-02-03-sos2009.asp Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty's State of the State Address Charter Schools, Finance, Finance--Funding Formulas, Finance--Performance Funding, School Districts, Student Achievement, Teaching Quality--Compensation -- Expand the Q Comp program (gives school districts more funding if they pay staff for improvements in student learning, rather than just paying for seniority) to every school district and charter school. For school districts not currently in Q Comp, this proposal will permanently increase per pupil funding by an amount comparable to a 5 percent increase in the general education funding formula. Charter Schools, Governance, Leadership, School Districts -- Improve the management of our schools. -- Require school districts and charter schools to come together to purchase in bulk to lower costs, eliminate waste and put more money in the classroom. Economic/Workforce Development, Finance--Taxes/Revenues -- Propose a Minnesota Jobs Recovery Act. -- Cut the state's business tax rate in half (from 9.8 percent to 4.8 percent) over the next 6 years. -- Provide a 50 million dollar package of tax credits that to create over 100 million dollars in new investments and jump start small business job creation. -- Propose a 25 percent refundable tax credit for small business owners that re-invest in their business quickly. -- Provide a capital gains exemption for qualifying investments in small Minnesota businesses. -- Eliminate the sales tax rebate on equipment and provide a 100 percent exemption from the sales tax – applies when the business buys the equipment. -- Enact a green jobs initiative. -- Create green JOBZ tax free zones for renewable energy jobs created anywhere in the state. Finance, Finance--Funding Formulas, Finance--Performance Funding, School Districts, Student Achievement -- Increase school district funding by up to an additional 2 percent per student for students meeting standards or at least showing reasonable growth towards achievement. Finance--Taxes/Revenues -- Ask each member of the legislature: Please don't add to the people's burden by increasing their bill from government; please don't take more of the people's money; and please don't raise taxes. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies, Teaching Quality--Compensation -- Continue to reform and improve our K-12 education system--one of our highest priorities. -- Plan to propose a budget in a couple of weeks that will rely on significant reductions in state spending, as well as using other resources currently available. -- Reduce funding for cities and counties. -- Reduce or eliminate as many state mandates as possible. Allow townships, cities or counties to opt-out of some state mandates by vote of their governing body. -- Freeze all state government wages for the next two years in order to minimize government employee layoffs. -- Enact legislation to require a wage freeze for any Minnesota government entity that accepts state money. -- Require local units of government to use the leverage of the state's buying power to purchase commodities such as road salt, paper and IT services at a reduced price, unless they can find a better price themselves. Governance, Leadership, School Districts, Unions/Collective Bargaining -- Change the way school districts and teacher unions negotiate and settle labor contracts. Begin using a fair arbitration process. High School, High School--Grad Requirements, Technology, Technology--Instruction -- Propose that state high school graduation standards require every student to participate in an online experience by the time they graduate. Postsecondary, Distance Learning/Virtual University -- Ask state colleges and universities to aggressively deliver more of their courses online. I'm grateful that MnSCU's board and leadership accepted my recent challenge to deliver 25 percent of their credits online by 2015. Postsecondary, Tuition/Fees -- Impose a firm cap on tuition increases. Teaching Quality, Teaching Quality--Compensation, Teaching Quality--Preparation, Teaching Quality--Recruitment/Retention -- Recruit the best and the brightest to become teachers. -- Establish minimum entrance requirements for teacher preparation programs. -- Continue to improve and modernize the way we pay teachers. http://www.governor.state.mn.us/stellent/groups/public/documents/web_content/prod009309.pdf North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue's State of the State Address Access, Financial Aid, Postsecondary, Tuition/Fees -- Begin the College Promise program to remove financial barriers for access to higher education. Access, Distance Learning/Virtual University, High School, Teaching Quality, Technology, Technology--Access/Equity -- Use technology to modernize the classroom and enable teaching to catch up with the way our kids live. -- Continue to support North Carolina's Virtual Public High School--levels the education playing field for students and assures educational equity. Accountability, Business Involvement, High School, High School--Dropout Rates/Graduation Rates, Parent/Family, Persistence/Retention, Public Involvement, School, Students, Student Achievement, Teaching Quality, Teaching Quality--Teacher Attitudes -- Hold schools accountable. -- Will not give any child permission to drop out of school. -- Will not give any teacher permission to give up on a student. -- Will not give any parent a free pass from their responsibility to be fully involved in their child's education. -- Will not give any segment of our community, particularly our business community, a free pass on education. These leaders need to put the same effort into helping North Carolina be the home of the nation's best educated workforce. Accountability, Governance, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies -- Reorganized (earlier this year) the public school system with Bill Harrison becoming both the CEO of the State Board of Education and of the Department of Public Instruction. Adult Learning/Continuing Education, Economic/Workforce Development -- Create jobs and provide ways for those who are out of work to learn new skills. -- Put people back to work building bridges, paving roads, and expanding and renovating our infrastructure. -- Transform our traditional industries into 21st century jobs. Adult Learning/Continuing Education, Economic/Workforce Development -- Create jobs and provide ways for those who are out of work to learn new skills. -- Put people back to work building bridges, paving roads, and expanding and renovating our infrastructure. -- Transform our traditional industries into 21st century jobs. Assessment, Standards--State -- Eliminating duplicative or unnecessary state tests. Business Involvement, Economic/Workforce Development, Postsecondary -- Become a Mecca for biotech, pharmaceuticals, and life sciences by bringing together government, higher education and private business. Career/Technical Education, Community Colleges, Early Learning, P-16, Postsecondary, Pre-Kindergarten, -- Create a pathway, starting in pre-kindergarten that offers courses of study that fit students' needs -- all the way through vocational, community college, or college. Seamless learning, pre-K through 20, that's the goal. Federal, Federal--Aid, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Ensure the recovery dollars are spent with maximum efficiency, transparency, and accountability. -- Created the Office of Economic Recovery & Investment to track every dollar. Taxpayers can go to www.NCRecovery.gov to see how the money is spent. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Pay our state's bills. -- Confront the $3 billion plus shortfall and make hard, painful decisions to balance the budget. -- Propose to reduce and cut state government programs and services that are effective but which we cannot afford. Finance, Finance--Funding Formulas, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Will not sacrifice education--it is the priority. -- Increase per-pupil spending. Health, Persistence/Retention -- Keep all our kids healthy and in school. http://www.governor.state.nc.us/stateofstate.aspx Washington Governor Christine Gregoire's State of the State Address Economic/Workforce Development, Federal, Federal--Aid, Finance, Finance--Facilities -- Create new jobs by rebuilding roads and schools, and creating a green economy for the 21st century — all in partnership with President-elect Barack Obama's "American Recovery and Reinvestment" plan. -- Accelerate nearly $1 billion in public works projects to quickly create thousands of new jobs. -- Introduce the "Washington Jobs Now" plan, which, in combination with the 1,400 transportation projects currently under way or about to start (worth $3 billion), will provide nearly 20,000 jobs over the next two years. -- Work with legislators and others to create an economic recovery plan that will quickly pass the legislature. Accountability, Business Involvement, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Postsecondary, Public Involvement, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies -- Reform state government to bring it into the 21st century. For example, I've asked Auditor Sonntag to examine ways to sunset some of state's 470 boards and commissions. -- Partner with business and labor, state employees, and citizens to reform state government. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Propose difficult budget cuts. I don't like this budget, but I proposed it because I must. -- Tighten the belt of government, balance the budget and focus on basic needs — protection of our children, our schools and colleges, our public safety, our environment and our economy. Economic/Workforce Development, Mathematics, Postsecondary, Science, Technology -- Preserve our education system to make sure we provide workers skilled in science, math, engineering and technology. Community Colleges, Distance Learning/Virtual University, Postsecondary, Technology -- Support the 18,000 full-time students at state community and technical colleges that are earning course credits online. It would take an additional four community colleges to offer all those classes the old-fashioned way. http://www.governor.wa.gov/speeches/speech-view.asp?SpeechSeq=203 P-16 or P-20 3 P-3 15 P-3 Early Intervention (0-3) 1 P-3 Family Involvement 1 P-3 Finance 5 P-3 Grades 1-3 5 P-3 Kindergarten 6 P-3 Preschool 4 P-3 Public/Private Partnerships 1 Parent/Family 7 Postsecondary 40 Postsecondary Accountability 1 Postsecondary Affordability--Financial Aid 17 Postsecondary Affordability--Tuition/Fees 22 Postsecondary Faculty 5 Postsecondary Finance 25 Postsecondary Governance and Structures 1 Postsecondary Institutions--Community/Technical Colleges 16 Postsecondary Institutions--For-Profit/Proprietary 2 Postsecondary Participation--Access 4 Postsecondary Participation--Enrollments (Statistics) 1 Postsecondary Students--Adults 10 Postsecondary Students--Graduate/Professional 2 Postsecondary Success--Completion 4 Promotion/Retention 1 Public Involvement 5 Reading/Literacy 2 Rural 4 Scheduling/School Calendar 3 Scheduling/School Calendar--Extended Day Programs 3 Scheduling/School Calendar--Summer School 2 School Safety 4 School/District Structure/Operations 10 School/District Structure/Operations--School Size 1 Service-Learning 1 Social/Emotional Learning and Non-Cognitive Skills 2 Special Education 3 Special Populations--Foster Care 3 Standards 4 State Policymaking 2 STEM 1 Student Achievement 13 Students 1 Teaching Quality 18 Teaching Quality--Certification and Licensure 1 Teaching Quality--Compensation and Diversified Pay 25 Teaching Quality--Induction Programs and Mentoring 2 Teaching Quality--Preparation 3 Teaching Quality--Professional Development 3 Teaching Quality--Recruitment and Retention 5 Teaching Quality--Recruitment and Retention--At-Risk Schools 3 Teaching Quality--Teacher Attitudes 1 Teaching Quality--Tenure or Continuing Contract 1 Teaching Quality--Unions/Collective Bargaining 4 Teaching Quality--Working Conditions 3 Technology 13 Technology--Computer Skills 2 Technology--Devices/Software/Hardware 3 Technology--Equitable Access 1 Textbooks and Open Source 1 Urban 2 Whole-School Reform Models 1 799